The CEO of low cost airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, is predicting an airline price war when global travel restrictions are lifted, which is a situation traditional airlines may struggle to keep up with.
O’Leary told international press agency Reuters that “When this thing is over there is going to be such massive discounting going on that there will be a large spike upward in travel and tourism for a period of time”.
The CEO also predicted “a bumper year in terms of earnings” in 2021, with low fares offset by low oil prices, and “much more incentives at airports for growth”.
He said that Ryanair would hold onto its orders for the grounded B737 Max, and also hinted at more possible new orders with manufacturers potentially willing to offer low prices to encourage sales.
The carrier had originally been due to take delivery of 58 Max aircraft by summer 2020, but in December that had been revised down to ten.
More than 99 percent of Ryanair’s fleet is currently grounded due to the global coronavirus pandemic, with the airline working with EU governments to keep “some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons”.